Why is sleep important?

Getting enough sleep can have a lot of benefits. Sleep plays an important role in
your physical health. For example, sleep is involved in healing and repair of your
heart and blood vessels. Ongoing sleep deficiency is linked to an increased risk of
heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke.

Poor sleep can make you fat

People with short sleep duration tend to weigh significantly more than those who
get adequate sleep. In fact, short sleep duration is one of the strongest risk factors
for obesity. In one massive review study, children and adults with short sleep
duration were 89% and 55% more likely to become obese.

Good sleepers tend to eat fewer calories

Studies show that sleep deprived individuals have a bigger appetite and tend to eat
more calories. Sleep deprivation disrupts the daily fluctuations in appetite hormones
and is believed to cause poor appetite regulation.

Good sleep helps you focus

Sleep is important for various aspects of brain function. This includes cognition,
concentration, productivity and performance. People on a traditional schedule
made 36% more serious medical errors than interns on a schedule that allowed
more sleep. Another study found short sleep can negatively impact some aspects of
brain function to a similar degree as alcohol intoxication.

Can make you have health risks

We know that sleep quality and duration can have a major effect on many risk
factors. These are the factors believed to drive chronic diseases, including heart
disease. Also sleep restriction affects blood sugar and reduces insulin sensitivity.
Sleeping less than 7-8 hours per night is linked to an increased risk of heart disease
and stroke.

Poor sleep is linked to depression

Mental health issues, such as depression, are strongly linked to poor sleep quality
and sleeping disorders. It has been estimated that 90% of patients with depression
complain about sleep quality. Poor sleep is even associated with increased risk of
death by suicide.

Increased Inflammation
Sleep can have a major effect on inflammation in the body. In fact, sleep loss is
known to activate undesirable markers of inflammation and cell damage. Poor

sleep has been strongly linked to long-term inflammation of the digestive tract, in
disorders known as inflammatory bowel diseases.

Affects emotions and social interactions

Sleep loss reduces our ability to interact socially. One study found that people who
had not slept had a reduced ability to recognize expressions of anger and
happiness. Researchers believe that poor sleep affects our ability to recognize
important social cues and process emotional information.

Maximize athletic performance

Sleep has been shown to enhance athletic performance. In a study on basketball
players, longer sleep was shown to significantly improve speed, accuracy, reaction
times, and mental wellbeing. Less sleep duration has also been associated with poor
exercise performance and functional limitation. Poor sleep causes slower walking,
lower grip strength, and greater difficulty performing independent activities.

Different types of sleep can help with different things

There are 10 different types of sleep states that can affect you differently. You ca be
n dee sleep or maybe you can only get in a power nap. There are night sleep and
day sleep an then there is Non-REM sleep and REN sleep.
Deep sleep
Deep sleep is a mysterious state that we usually enter several times each night. Its
nature is somewhat less well known than the more dramatic "dream sleep."
Subjectively deep sleep is a time of nearly complete disengagement from the
environment. It is very difficult to awaken a person in deep sleep, and children in
this state may be nearly impossible to wake up.

Day Sleep
More than 85% of mammalian species are polyphonic sleepers, meaning that they
sleep for short periods throughout the day. Humans are part of the minority of
monophasic sleepers, meaning that our days are divided into two distinct periods,
one for sleep and one for wakefulness. Researchers found that a short nap could
reverse the negative health effects of a night of poor sleep, and also reduce stress
and bolster the immune system.
Night Sleep
Most teens need about 8 to more than 9 hours of sleep each night. Getting the
right amount of sleep is essential for anyone who wants to do well on a test or play
sports without stumbling. Studies have shown that while we sleep, our brains

process and consolidate our memories from the day. If you don't get enough sleep,
it seems like those memories might not get stored correctly and can be lost.
Power Naps
A power nap is a short sleep taken during the working day in order to restore one's
mental alertness. Daytime naps can be one way to treat sleep deprivation. You can
get incredible benefits from 15 to 20 minutes of napping, it resets the system and
gets a burst of alertness and increases motor performance. That's what most people
really need to get rid of sleepiness and get an energy boost.
Non-REM Sleep
NREM (non-rapid eye movement) sleep is dreamless sleep. We have 3 to 5 REM
periods per night. They occur at intervals of 1-2 hours apart and are quite variable
in length, ranging from 5 minutes to over an hour. About 80% of sleep is NREM
sleep. If you sleep 7-8 hours a night, all but maybe an hour and a half is spent in
dreamless NREM sleep.
N1 Sleep
Stage 1 f Non-REM sleep is the stage between wakefulness and sleep, sometimes
referred to as drowsy sleep, in which the muscles are still quite active and the eyes
roll around slowly and may open and close from time to time. During stage 1 sleep,
breathing gradually becomes more regular and the heart rate begins to slow.
Dreaming is relatively rare during this stage.
N2 Sleep
Stage 2 (NREM2 or N2) is the first unequivocal stage of sleep, during which muscle
activity decreases still further and conscious awareness of the outside world begins
to fade completely. Because sleepers pass though this stage several times during
the night, more time is spent in stage 2 sleep than in any other single stage, and it
typically constitutes about 45%-50% of total sleep time for adults (or even more in
young adults).
N3 Sleep
Stage 3 (NREM3 or N3) is also known as deep or delta, and during this period the
sleeper is even less responsive to the outside environment, essentially cut off from
the world and unaware of any sounds or other stimuli. Stage 3 sleep occurs in
longer periods during the first half of the night, particularly during the first two sleep
cycles, and represents around 15%-20% of total adult sleep time.
REM Sleep
Rapid eye movement sleep (REM sleep, REMS) is a unique phase of mammalian
sleep characterized by random movement of the eyes, low muscle tone throughout

the body, and the propensity of the sleeper to dream vividly. REM sleep is important
because it is the restorative part of our sleep cycle. Typically, you begin the sleep
cycle with a period of non-REM sleep followed by a very short period of REM sleep.
The period of non-REM sleep is made up of stages 1 to 4. Each stage can last from 5
to 15 minutes. A completed cycle of sleep consists of a progression from stages 1 to
4 before REM sleep is attained, then the cycle starts over again.
Sleep is important
Everyone needs sleep and could probably not live without it. It helps your health
and to recover from things. Keeps you in better then shape and also can calm your
nerves. Sleep is needed for everyone and if you cant find time for it then you need
to make time.